US jobs data, stronger dollar send crude prices lower

Crude oil prices were lower in afternoon trade in New York Thursday, hurt by a stronger dollar in relation to the euro, and by US inventories that were higher last week for the fourteenth out of fifteen consecutive weeks.

Prices were also pushed lower by new jobs data from the US, where new unemployment claims fell less than expected last week and continuing jobless claims grew instead of falling as expected.

In afternoon trade, June contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude were down 19 cents to $75.46 per barrel, while in midday trade July contracts were down 96 cents to $79.19 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, Brent crude was down $1.18 to $80.02 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

Nymex June natural gas futures were up 10 cents to $4.38 per million British thermal units in afternoon trade after the US Energy Information Administration reported that while US stockpiles added 94 billion cubic feet to around 2.09 trillion cubic feet last week, the gains were less than the 100 billion to 104 billion cubic feet that had been anticipated.

Still, natural gas inventories remain 4.9 percent above last year’s level and 18.4 percent above the five-year average.

Nymex June gasoline and heating oil futures each dropped 2 cents in afternoon trade, to $2.20 per gallon and $2.14 per gallon respectively.

The retail price of a gallon of gasoline was also lower in the US, falling 0.6 cent overnight to $2.89 per gallon on average nationally, according to AAA.